Monday, May 8, 2017

Pineapple Blossom Necklace

This project is a combination of two stitches (Peyote and Chenille), and two different bead finishes (shiny dark rainbow, and matte pastel rainbow). The 29 page Intermediate-Advanced level tutorial is available here in my Etsy shop.

Sadly there are way more than two different beads in the project, but whenever gradation figures into a design, it's a safe bet that MANY different sizes of any bead used will be necessary.

I appreciate that buying $3 worth of beads to get three of them does not always fit into everyone's budget. I have had a great time playing with colors, and have three colorways available as kits in my Etsy shop. The kits actually cost less than buying all the beads you need separately, and save you time. But if you want to create your own version in your favorite colors, there is a handy chart on pages 3 and 4, that show your which beads need to be dark and which light, and what needs to contrast with what. I struggled with that myself, and wanted to make it EASY for you to do!

First, there is a warm, soft golden green, which reminds me of new leaves, paired with a metallic olivine rainbow effect. I love the flashes of purple in that dark bead! I called it FROND, and that kit is available here. I think you can see in this photo the texture of the bezel, which very much reminds me of a ripe pineapple, hence the name.

Since the pineapple name evokes Hawaii for me, I thought there should also be a SURF color, which is soft matte pale turquoise, accented with deep teal metallic rainbow finish.

This image shows the back, and another important part of this project. Before it is bezeled, the 20x30 Swarovski jewel is backed with soft leather, in this particular case Tandy "Super Softy Pigsuede" but Lambskin works really well too. A soft, flexible piece serves well, and the process is described with photos in the tutorial. I plan to try a making a video of that process over the next weekend, to help those of you who want to do it for yourselves. If you don't, it's already been done for you on the jewels in the kits. Surf is available here, although currently sold out. But I will be re-stocking ASAP!

One more thing about the SURF kit. The 15/0 beads at the center edge of the bezel are a tight fit, and one of mine (center bottom) sat a bit cooked. I hate things like that. BUT I think if I had not pointed it out to you, you would never have noticed. SO, cull the tiniest of these beads and save them for the center of the bottom of the bezel. It's interesting to me that each bead, even from the same manufacturer, has its own character.

Now, to the final colorway, the Orchid MIST kit, available here. Had to have a flower for the Hawaiian theme, yes? And orchid is a good description of the lighter color, with deep purple and navy metallic rainbow accents.

I have to tell you, I have really struggled with photographing this color to get it to look like the real thing, and I think the above shot shows the color most accurately. There are two things I want to point out to you.

First, the bezel edge bead is transparent. I wish it had a little more presence than it does when worn, especially against a darker color. SO, I have given you a second, tiny bag of those edge beads (J), inside the bag containing the ones I used in my sample. The beads in the little bag are opaque and have a bit of moderate shine. You can test for yourself and see which you prefer. I also put in some of the same beads in the smaller size in the H bag, for the center of the bezel if you prefer them. Your choice: neither is a mistake, just a slightly different result.

The second thing I want to discuss with you is the N bead in this first Orchid colorway, that peeks out of the bell-shaped cones at the bottom of the ropes. I did not find what I thought was the PERFECT bead for that spot, until my second set of kits. So first generation Orchid kit buyers have three choices. Two sets of them have a gold finish on them, and if you look at the first photo, you can see I used the lighter one in the sample I made. It's OK, but a little golden, for the rest of the beads. I think the other gold finished bead looks a little taupe-y, and not my favorite. Marie, who tested this project for me, used the purple bead, and I think it blends in better with the rest of the colors. BUT you get to make your own choice. Remember that it sits almost entirely hidden in wearing, and is seen only in shadow. Make the choice your prefer. None of them is a bad choice. Please yourself!

TUTORIAL TEXT CORRECTIONS

And then, there are a few corrections, because no matter how hard I try, I am not perfect. I keep these corrected in the downloadable tutorial, and you can download a new, fully corrected copy at any time.

I have never found an error in my drawings, so when in doubt, LOOK AT THE ILLUSTRATION.

Pages 3 and 4, the Swarovski jewel is a #4327, not a 4237.

Page 3, in the SURF colorway, the C bead is Teal Blue Iris, like the others, not Olivene

Page 10, Row 10 is E beads, not F beads.

All the steps and rows are in order, but my page layout program gave me 3 page 13's and 3 page 26's.

Page 9, Row 7: Peyote stitch a row of 31D, not 16D.

Page 10, Row 9, in red text : Wrap the Tail thread just used around a bobbin, not the original thread.

Page 19, "Are we THERE yet?: 1st paragraph "Then I condense", not The I condense.

Page 20, Row 3: Pass through 1J, not 1G.

If you ever spot an error, please let me know. I do not want anyone to be misled. :(

I had a wonderful release of this tutorial and set of kits, (the photo below is the result of the first 12 hours, and barely fit into my very large mailbox) and I want to thank you all again, for your appreciation of my pattern, and your purchases. If there are ever questions you have about a process or step, please contact me, and I will do my very best to help you.

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About Me

Costume Designer, Beadweaving Artist, Wife of The Best Man Ever, Mother of Most Excellent Young Man.
I hold a BFA in Design for Theater from the University of Montana and an MA from Purdue University in Costume Design. I started my own business in 1987, designing and creating costumes for competitive ballroom dancers. I began beadweaving in the fall of 2007.